Black Lotus
by Nakosha
Summary: Kawada Shogo awakens to find himself directly in the middle of the Greater East Asia Republic's best kept secret: a resistance group that seeks to rescue the players of the world's most dangerous game...and destroy it forever.
1. Prologue

**BATTLE ROYALE**  
_Black Lotus_

-PROLOGUE-

_I must be dead._

Brief flashes of a dim reverie flooded his mind. Uniformed students, murdering one another beneath a haze of crimson sky…a sky nearly as red as the ground upon which it lit. It was like some kind of twisted mirror. Two of the students stood out in particular…a boy and his girl. What was her name? Keiko? No, that wasn't it. That was someone else. Noriko…and…

"Shuya."

A flutter of light. So bright, it was…was this the heaven that Christians always spoke of? A face, so close to his own that he could have reached out and touched it. Did he still have arms? A girl's face, stern…and then another, very different face, belonging to a young woman. _Very_ different. Pretty. Something cool slid over his brow. If this was heaven, was she an angel? He wanted to ask her.

Something stung his arm (ah, so he did have arms, after all). And then…

Then…

A soft whisper. "It's all right. You're safe, now…whoever you are. Don't be afraid."

Afraid? _I'm not afraid_. _And my name…_

The lights were going out, melting together into a muted grey…puddle. A puddle in the sky? That didn't make any sense, at all.

_My name is Kawada Shogo._


	2. Awakening

_Note: This is based more on the book than on the movie, actually, but anyone who has seen the movie will be able to follow it without difficulty. **IMPORTANT:** Just so you know, "Sakamochi" was the actual name of the teacher known as "Kitano" in the movie. You know, the one who was in charge of the kids throughout the Program's duration. I have no idea why they changed his name in the movie, but, such is movie-making. Also--the strapping young man upon whom this story centers was called Kawada in the movie, but that is his surname. I will be calling him by his first name. If you don't recognize a character, I made him/her up. ;-p_

**-ONE-  
Awakening**

First, there was pain. The moment he opened his eyes, a piercing sensation seared Shogo's eyes in the blinding brightness of the room. Rubbing them gingerly, he became conscious of a needle in his hand that appeared to be administering intravenous fluids to his body, which was heavily bandaged in several places. Blinking rapidly, he forced himself to focus. The important thing was to figure out exactly where he was and how he had gotten there.

He lay in a soft bed, wrapped carefully in warm blankets and propped up slightly by a few pillows. To his left and right, there were other beds, and as his vision returned to him he could see that two of them were occupied by silent, unmoving forms. If he was correct, they were—he leaned forward a little—they were just kids, bandaged as he was. Two girls.

"Aha! You're awake!"

A small, sharp-faced girl swept across the room to stand by his bedside. She wore narrow glasses, her hair neatly tucked into a knot at the base of her neck, and as she knelt to take his pulse, he could see that her hands were tiny and dexterous, her nails clipped short for efficiency. He was amazed that a girl so tiny could move so quickly, almost like a bird of prey swooping in for the kill. It was unnerving.

"Wh-where am I?" he murmured groggily.

She held up her free hand, her eyes glued to a clock on the whitewashed wall. After a few moments, she released his wrist and stared down at him from behind her glasses with large brown eyes. There was a clever, inquisitive look to her otherwise severe face with its high cheekbones and highly arched eyebrows that gave her a mature, wise appearance. In fact, she looked rather familiar. He doubted she was more than five years older than he, but her mannerisms indicated otherwise.

"You won't like this, but I'm not in a position to tell you that. What I _can_ tell you is that you're safe here. We found you on a ship in port, after having been notified of the means by which Nanahara Shuya and Nakagawa Noriko escaped the Class B Program. But we still don't know who you are, much less how you managed to get off the island. By the time we managed to break through the government's antiaircraft systems to get a rescue mission online, there were only two students left alive…or so we thought, until we found _you_."

Shogo's shock must have been pasted across his face, because she nodded and pointed to the other beds.

"Yes, that's right.One of them has identified herself as Souma Mitsuko. She took several bullets, but she seems to be doing well. She's a sleep right now, but we've been working on physical therapy for a few weeks, now. The other—"

"Wait, wait." Shogo couldn't believe what he had just heard. If that was true, then…. "Weeks? How long have I been here?"

"Nearly three months. You've been in and out of consciousness, but we've mostly kept you sedated so that we could speed the healing process. You'll begin physical therapy in a few days."

Shogo ran a hand over his face in wonder. _Damn, I need a shave. And a cigarette. _He realized that his hair had grown out quite a bit; he had the constant urge to brush it out of his eyes. Man, that was annoying. He wondered vaguely about how he had survived the Program again. Was it luck, or perhaps a curse? He was probably going to be in a world of trouble, after the incident with Sakamochi. Then a sudden thought struck him.

"Noriko and Shuya…where are they?"

"Gone. Hiding, I think. They're high-profile celebrities, now, what with the murder of that teacher. We asked them to stay, but they refused, saying they didn't want the government to follow them here and expose us."

"I see." Shogo narrowed his eyes. "Who exactly are you?"

"My name is Iwate Jun'ko. And you are…?"

"I meant the name of your organization."

Jun'ko's eyebrows arched imperiously, and she tilted her chin slightly. "I would have thought you'd have guessed that by now. We're Black Lotus," she said proudly.

Black Lotus. She was right—he _should_ have known. Supposedly, Black Lotus was a "militant" antigovernment resistance group headed by an old man whose name had never been disclosed. The Dictator, rather than sending out anti-resistance propaganda, ignored them completely so as to diminish their overall effect on the country. But nearly everyone had heard of them, and some whispered that they were all escapees and survivors from the Program. That would explain why there had been no arrests for "unlawful survival," but Shogo had never really believed in Black Lotus' existence before now.

"And what is your name?" Jun'ko repeated, looking a bit ruffled.

"Kawada. Shogo."

"Ahh. I'd thought perhaps you were. As I was saying, two of your classmates survived. Souma Mitsuko and Eto Megumi. Eto was in…terrible condition. Had her throat slit by what appeared to be a farmer's sickle. We managed to keep her alive, but she'll have an ugly scar, and it's likely she'll never speak again. We've been teaching her sign language, and she's doing quite nicely. But the others were so far-gone by the time we arrived that we couldn't save them. If they were your friends, I'm sorry."

Shogo shook his head. "No. Megumi and Mitsuko were announced as dead. Their collars detected no signs of life. How did you revive them? Or me?"

"I've been doing this for several years. I'm only twenty-four, but I joined Black Lotus when I was fourteen. My…my best friend went to the public school, and I stayed at home with my mother and learned to sew, cook, things like that. But my friend's class was selected for the Program, and she was killed. I was so angry…I ran away from home and joined Black Lotus so I could help other students in my friend's place. My mother wouldn't have liked it. But my brothers were there to take care of her, so I didn't feel bad about leaving.

"Anyway, as it turns out, I'm quite good with medicine." She smiled, and her eyes softened a little. "It's a gift. No student in my care has died in over five years, although we almost lost one a couple of years ago. It's funny, she had seven bullets in her, and I was so sure we'd lose her. But she pulled through, and it's a good thing she did, because she rose to become a captain of the Guardians."

"The Guardians?"

"Oh. The government calls them terrorists." Jun'ko made a face. "But they're really not, at all. They're the ones who actively rescue kids from the Program. It's the most dangerous branch of Black Lotus, and the one with the most fatalities. As a matter of fact, it was Captain Amarante herself who found you on the ship. No one else dared to board it, because of all of the dead soldiers on the deck. We knew it would be swarming with media attention in a matter of minutes. But she grabbed you and dove into the water with a scuba tank before they could get to you. You weren't breathing…by the time she pulled you to shore to administer CPR, your heart had stopped. Electric shock, extensive surgery, a blood transfusion, and a lot of luck has kept you with us."

"Sorry if I sound ungrateful, but I could really use something to eat. I guess a smoke is out of the question?"

Jun'ko shook her head curtly. "It is indeed out of the question, Kawada. Do you _want_ to kill yourself?"

"Not really, although it seems like _something_ wants me dead," he remarked, laughing bitterly. He regretted it almost immediately, as a sharp pain dug its claws into his stomach. _So laughing _and_ smoking are a no._

"Ah, that's right. Twice in the Program, right? That's awful, but at least you're alive. I'll go and send for something for you to eat."

She turned on her heel and walked briskly to the door. Just as she had placed a delicate hand on the doorknob, it turned on its own and the door swung inward. She jumped backward, flailing for balance, and tumbled unceremoniously into a chair, her legs dangling haphazardly over its arms. Framed in the doorway stood the most peculiar being Shogo had ever seen.

"Jun'ko! I'm so sorry! I didn't realize…."

Jun'ko irritably blew an errant strand of hair out of her face and adjusted her crooked glasses. "I should have known," she said, glaring at the newcomer, a young woman. "I suppose it is time for another shot, though if you would just _lie down_ for a few days and let yourself heal, you wouldn't need them!"

Shogo would later blame his medication for his inability to keep his eyes from roaming over the girl who had nearly hit Jun'ko with the door. She was unusually tall, nearly as tall as he was, and obviously a Westerner, despite her perfect Japanese. Her dark green eyes were wide and almond-shaped, lined with long feathery lashes. Her lips were full and soft as they curved into an apologetic smile, and long chestnut hair fell in waves to the center of her back. He traced her jaw line with his eyes; it was vaguely elfin and stubborn atop a fair, slender neck. She struck him as awfully thin for her height.

"Here, let me help you." She bent slightly and grasped Jun'ko's hand, pulling her effortlessly to her feet. As she did so, Shogo noticed that her arms were well-developed, for a woman's. Unlike Jun'ko, who wore a starched white button-up dress, the other girl had wrapped herself in a deep red robe of soft linen. He glanced across the room at the little round clock on the wall. It was nearly 3 a.m. She must have just come from her room. "I came to tell you that I'd rather not take anymore painkillers. As you can see, they're inhibiting my judgment."

Jun'ko threw her hands into the air and heaved a sigh. "If it's inhibiting your judgment, who are you to make any decision concerning your medication? Honestly, Aspen, you should be grateful for your rank, because if it was any lower, I'd have you arrested and tied to a bed—"

The other young woman, Aspen—what nationality was that, anyway?—, held up her forefinger. "No, Jun'ko-chan, I owe my continued freedom to your friendship. If we weren't such close friends, you would never allow me to run amok as much as I do, free to cause trouble." She was smiling innocently, but there were twin sparks of mischief in her eyes.

Jun'ko snorted, but it was a pleasant sound, for she somehow exuded grace and dignity even when making such noises. "Hmph. It's true I don't approve of your…style. But it has its uses, I suppose." She nodded toward Shogo's bed. "It may be the only reason _he_ is alive today."

Aspen's eyes widened, and she turned her smile upon him. Drugged as he was, he found he couldn't look away. He wondered if what Jun'ko had said meant that this girl was none other than Captain Amarante, the woman who had essentially saved his life. He was surprised—he had expected someone, well, _tougher_. Certainly not as pretty as this girl, and _definitely_ not a foreigner. "Amarante" was a Japanese word.

"You're awake! That's wonderful!" She crossed the room to stand by his bed. She gazed down at him with a kindly look. "Excuse me," she apologized, reaching down to smooth some of his hair out of his face. Her hand on his brow was cool and soft, and he suddenly remembered feeling it once before.

"You were here before," he said, his words spilling out of his mouth as though it were an overturned basin. "I wanted to tell you my name. It's Shogo."

"Kawada is his family name," Jun'ko supplied, crossing her arms with a light smile.

"Shogo…How do you feel?" Aspen asked softly.

"I don't feel much, actually," Shogo admitted, "though I'd love to get out of this bed."

Aspen opened her mouth to speak, but Jun'ko would have none of it. "Out of the question!" she snapped. "You need rest."

Aspen placed a hand gently upon her much shorter friend's shoulder. "Jun'ko. I understand your concern, but maybe he ought to try sitting, at least. You removed all of the tubing for life support and such already, right? May I?" This question was addressed to Shogo, who had no idea what she intended.

"Sure," he heard himself say. _It's not like I can resist, anyway, whatever it is you want to do._

She peeled back the thick blankets that had covered his body, and at once a rush of cool air hit him in the chest—or at least the parts of his chest that weren't bandaged. She proceeded to run a smooth hand over several stitched wounds just below the left side of his collarbone. He felt goosebumps rising where she touched him—and it wasn't unpleasant—and watched her curiously as she gently lifted one of the bandages that lay over the area below his neck, where Kiriyama had shot him. It had been changed recently, so it didn't stick to the wound.

"Jun'ko?" Aspen wrinkled her brow. "These stitches could have come out days ago. All of them."

Shogo turned his head to look at Jun'ko, who had set her lips in a thin, dissatisfied line. She crossed the room briskly and took the bandage from Aspen's hands. "Yes, yes, yes. After all, _you're _a Guardian. You _obviously_ know more about medicine than I do. I was going to take them out tomorrow, anyway. I just wanted to be sure he healed properly."

Aspen nodded respectfully while Jun'ko reapplied Shogo's bandage. "Well, it's very late. I don't know how you can function so well on so little sleep, Jun'ko, but you're very good at it. I envy you….I'm almost dead on my feet. Goodnight."

Jun'ko whirled to face her. "And just where do you suppose you're going?"

"Bed?" Aspen offered quizzically, spreading her hands. Shogo noticed that they shook slightly, but she quickly steadied them. It didn't matter; Jun'ko had seen it as well. She snatched the taller girl by the wrist with all the speed and precision of a hunting cat and pulled her to the bed beside his.

"Sit."

Aspen sat stiffly on the edge of the bed, her fingers curled tightly into the mattress' fabric. Jun'ko prepared two syringes of clear liquid from two different ampoules, her brow wrinkled in concentration. Painstakingly, she measured out a small amount, then shook her head and emptied the syringe. She repeated this process with her tongue between her teeth until she was satisfied, and then turned to Aspen, who looked up at her with pleading eyes. It made Shogo wonder just how strong that medication was.

"Oh _honestly_," Jun'ko scoffed. "You're willing enough to _get_ shot, so why are you so afraid when someone tries to _give_ you a shot?"

"You know I'm afraid of needles, Jun'ko, but this stuff burns like—AAAUUGH!" Jun'ko had taken advantage of her patient's distraction to jab her arm with the syringe. As she injected her with the medication, Aspen's entire body tensed and quaked in pain. _It must really be hurting her_, Shogo thought, concerned. But if Jun'ko felt it was necessary, it probably was. Just as her body began to relax, the other syringe needle pierced her skin, and the entire cycle began again. It took longer this time for the tremors to die down.

"Hey…" Shogo said weakly. "Does she really need two of those?"

Jun'ko didn't look up as she placed the empty syringes on the metal table between their beds. "Her body is resistant to medication. I have to give her twice as much if I want it to even take effect." She cast a piteous look in Aspen's direction. "I know it looks bad, but it's only passing."

It definitely seemed to have taken effect. Aspen slowly leaned back until her head rested on a pillow. He eyelids fluttered briefly, and she licked her full lips before speaking in a whisper. "Jun'ko. I can't get up. You…what did you give me?"

The smaller woman smiled kindly. "Goodnight, Captain. You'll thank me when your wounds have finished healing."

"No, I don't think…so. You could have…killed me with…that amount of tranquilizer."

"I don't think it's possible to kill you, Amarante."

Amarante. The woman who had saved his life. She had pulled him from the ship he had commandeered, and dragged him to shore, given him CPR….In his heavily drugged state, he couldn't resist touching his lips incredulously. Her mouth had been…but that was ridiculous. _Snap out of it_. _Figure out the next plan of action. I won't get far unless I can walk, and that's the least of my problems at this point. I don't need any distractions._


	3. Survivor's Guilt

-Two-

Survivor's Guilt

The next morning found Shogo alone in the hospital room. At least, he _thought_ it was morning…there were no windows, and the clock was gone. In fact, nearly everything that had been in the room the night before—stretchers, monitoring equipment, cabinets full of medicines—was gone. The only things left in the room were his own bed and the one next to his where Amarante Aspen lay, her lips parted slightly.

He sat up uneasily, and his blankets tumbled away. Silently, he peeled off his bandages. The stitches were now gone, leaving a tangle of raised red streaks across his body where his wounds had closed. Swinging his legs over the edge of the bed, he found that movement was much easier than he had thought it would be. Good. If this really was Black Lotus, they would be constantly in danger's path. He didn't want to be caught helpless if the government decided to make a move against them.

The floor was cold, but it was reassuring, in a way. It was nice to feel something solid beneath his feet. A rush of vertigo washed over him, but he refused to sit back down. Gripping the edge of the bed for support, he waited for the sensation to ease, and then slowly, gingerly, straightened. He had to find out what was going on. Were they moving to a different location? Had they been attacked? No…if that were so, there would not have been time to move all of the furniture, and the Captain—he glanced her way and blinked—the Captain of the Guardians would not be lying in bed, staring at him.

"We're getting ready to relocate," she said softly, as though answering his thoughts. "We know where the next Program will be held, and our plan is to set up a more efficient system of retrieval before it begins. After what happened when we went in last time…it has been agreed that more preparations are necessary."

"What happened last time?" Shogo shook his head slowly. "My class, you mean?"

Aspen nodded, her eerily green eyes clouded with grief, but would say no more.

The door opened, and once again, Jun'ko bustled in, her arms full of bandages. She shoved them into a bag and handed the lot to Aspen, who thanked her and left the room. Shogo watched her go, trying not to scratch his newly-healed scars. They itched like hell.

"Physical therapy today," Jun'ko said briskly, producing a cane from behind the door. "You're going to need this for a while. And if I hear a single word of testosterone-laden protest, I will hit you with it in your most testosterone-laden spots. Got it?"

"Got it," Shogo said, wincing at the thought. "You know, your bedside manner leaves a little to be desired."

"I find it to be very effective," she said matter-of-factly, and he took the cane, tested his weight against it, and immediately made for the door.

"Where are you going?" Jun'ko demanded.

"To find a bathroom," he said over his shoulder as he hobbled out into the hallway. "I'm done peeing into a bag."

---

The next two months were some of the most painful of Shogo's life. The move to the Black Lotus' new base of operations was carried out while he was in a tranquilizer-induced sleep (to prevent him from seeing things he shouldn't, he supposed), and he saw almost no one but the trainer. Kyoto Dai was small and lean, and he wore his bleached hair in a strange, spiked style. Shogo, however, had quickly learned to take him seriously. He was fiercely intelligent, and he could do push-ups on his thumbs.

"Just remember," Dai said one morning, "it's already been as bad as it's going to get. At least you've gotten the getting-shot part over with."

"At least when I got shot my body went into shock," Shogo said through gritted teeth as he began his second set of exercises.

"You can complain all you want, Kawada, but I'm onto you. A guy like you isn't going to let any amount of pain stop him from getting around on his own. It's like a cage to you, being dependent on that cane, and the only way to get rid of it is to do what I say, when I say it, how I say it. You know it, and I know it, so quit your bitching." Dai grinned. "I gotta say, I'm really curious to see what they're planning to do with you."

Shogo, who had been balancing on one leg, wobbled precariously as he shot Dai a sharp look. "What do you mean?"

Dai crossed his arms over his narrow chest and snorted. "Oh, come on, you think they'd let a guy with as many skills as you have go without trying to recruit him? Especially surviving the Program _twice_? We're a group of idealists, yeah, but altruism only gets an organization so far. You've been here for a long time, and you can bet that if you leave, the government's going to find you—and when they do, you'll disappear. No one's going to force you to stay, but only an idiot would leave. Besides," he added, leaning forward, "don't you _want_ to punish those bastards for what they've done to people? To you?"

As a general rule, Shogo didn't like to get involved. He had bent that rule with Shuya and Noriko, but that was very different from signing on with a not-so-secret anti-government movement. When he got involved, people died, some of them innocent people. It was messy, and he was done with it. A system of government like the one they had couldn't last forever. It would crumble someday, and some other power would replace it. Nothing was ever permanent. That was just the way the world worked. "I'm not much of a team player," he said, returning to his exercises. "And I'm tired of killing people. Thanks for helping me, but there's not a whole lot I can do to help you, unless you need a cook, or something."

Dai snorted again, shaking his head. "Yeah, well, you'd be surprised how important a good cook is. In a gig like this, morale is _everything_. Anyway, I'm just saying, most of the Program kids who can recover fully want to be Guardians. They want a chance to strike back, save some lives firsthand, and they're the best candidates, because they know what it's like to actually be there in the game. That's why I joined up."

"I had a feeling," Shogo grunted.

"That's right." Dai pointed to himself and said in a voice of mock-pride. "You're looking at the sole survivor of the Program two years before your first one. Black Lotus didn't get to us in time. It was me who found them. I wanted revenge against our dear Dictator. So does the survivor of the Program before mine, Reizo, and from what I hear, so does your friend Mitsuko. What that girl Megumi wants, no one really knows. I'm not sure whether she's more terrified of the government or of Mitsuko."

Shogo had seen both of them on a few occasions, and it hadn't been pretty. He had learned some time after his recovery began that Mitsuko had been the one to slash Megumi's throat. Megumi went into agonized hysterics whenever the two girls were in the same room together, and they had been kept separated as they underwent their respective therapies. Mitsuko, herself, registered no outward emotion whatsoever. Shogo suspected that she had long been teetering on the edge, and the Program had obviously pushed her over that edge. She was as cold as she was beautiful, and she had been barred from the Guardianship for reasons of emotional instability. These days, he saw her now and then doing odd jobs, and she had never said a single word to him. Megumi, deeply traumatized, did no jobs, at all, but haunted different rooms in the building like a ghost.

"I'll stay," he said finally, looking down at Dai. "But I'm not shooting anybody. I know this isn't going to stop at rescuing kids. You guys are going to go after the system."

Dai sighed and clapped him on the shoulder. "I hope you make good noodles, Kawada."


End file.
